Propelling mechanism for mining-machines.



N; D. LEVIN.

PROPELLING MECHANISM FOR MINING MACHINES.

APPLICATION FILED AUG.I7, 1915.

1,290,592. Patented Jan. 7,1919.

2 SHEETSSHEET 1.

N. D. LEVIN.

PROPELLING MECHANISM FOR MINING MACHINES.

APPLICATION FILED AUG.I7.19I5.

1,290,592. Patented Jan. '7, 1919.

2 SHEETS SHEEI 2 r v v uucufot UNITED srn'rns Parana caries.

NILS D. LEVIN, OF COLUMBUS, OHIO, ASSIG-NOR TO THE JEFFREY MANUFACTURING COMPANY, OF COLUMBUS, OHIO, CORPORATION OF OHIO.

PROPELLING MECHANISM FOR MINING-MACHINES.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 7, 1919.

Application filed August 17, 1915. Serial No. 45,962.

comprises two main parts, one beinga cutting mechanism and the other being a supporting mechanism, non which the cutting mechanism is mounte while performing its cutting work, and upon which it is transported from place to place.

One of the principal uses of these machines is to form in the coal, cuts which are, on transverselines, in front of the truck or supporting mechanism resting on the tracks.

The cutteits,;to produce such cuts, are frequently fed into or drawn out from the coal by a bodily movement of the cutting apparatus, this in some cases being accompanied by a similar movement bodily forward and backward of the truck.

The cutting apparatus and the truck upon which it is carried remain permanently upon the track which is lengthened, step by step, and advanced as closely as possible up to. the coal face as the mining progresses. The ends of the track rails lie at points where they are. covered by piles of fallen coal and slack. In order to get the forward movement of the cutting apparatus and its truck, anchors or abutments have heretofore, in some cases, been used. These anchors are fastened in apertures formed in the coal face, and cables or chains connected to winding mechanisms on the machines have been temporarily secured to these anchors. In other cases, the chains or cables have been secured to the rails at their front ends.

The object of my improvements is to avoid the delay and labor incident to the forming of apertures in the coal face and securing anchors therein, and also avoid the difficulty incident to fastening devices as heretofore made and attached when they are secured to the front ends of the rails, where, as described, they are, during operation, covered up by large piles of falling materials.

Another object is to provide feeding apparatus for mining machines which have the cutters in relatively high horizontal planes and which require the application of the feed power, sometimes in these elevated planes, and sometimes in low planes near the floor and the rails.

Figure 1' is a side elevation of a mining machine equipped with one of the mecha nisms which embody my improvements.

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the parts shown in Fig. 1. I

Fig. 3 is a plan view of the machine with the parts in the positions occupied when the cutting apparatus is being drawn.backward.

Fig. 4. shows the rail connectordetached.

Fig. 5 is a side view showing some of-the parts of the mechanism (more r less conventionally) together with modified form of the rail-engaging device.

Fig. 6 is a 'plan and Fig. 7 a side view of the rail-engaging device in Fig. 5 detached.

Figs. 8.. 9 fieation.

In the drawings there is shown a mining machine of a now common form. in the class above referred to; but it will be understood that the parts more particularly characterizing the present invention are not limited to use upon a machine of the specific. sub-class illustrated Nor is it necessary to .describe all of-the parts in detail either of the cutting mechanismor of the carrying and transporting apparatus. For the present purpose suffice it to say that there is a main truck frame 1 carried upon .tradk wheels 2, fitted to and remaining upon the rails 3 of the tracks in the mine. Upon the frame 1 are mounted a series of threaded uprights 4, to which are fitted nuts 5. ,6 are the brackets or legs which carry the upper or table part of the apparatus, each of which has a pedestal that is between the nuts 5 of a pair on a threaded support 4. The upper or table part of the structure and 10 illustrate another modicomprises a supporting ring 7, which carries the expanded brace plate or frame 8 of the mining machine, and from which there extends, outward, the cutting apparatus. This comprises an arm or frame structure 9 and a chain that carries the cutters which act upon the coal, the chain being fitted to and traveling around the arm. 10 indicates a motor which transmits power through suitable driving gearing to the cutter chain and to the parts which move the cutting apparatus transversely and also move it bodily. A windingdrum 11, mounted on the main frame 8, is connected with the motor gearing by means of a friction clutch 12, which is controlled by the hand wheel 13. When the cutter is tightened the drum winds the cable 14. 15, 15 are sheaves arranged in a series around the table or main frame, and the cable 14 can be disposed upon these sheaves in either of several ways, in order to attain either of several movements of the cutting apparatus. At 16, 16 there are stationary abutments on the non-rotary part of the frame. \Vhen the end of the cable 14 is secured to one of these abutments more or less of a rotation of the cutting apparatus will be effected around the Vertical axis of the frame structure. When it is desired to move not only the cutting mechanism but the entire machine, the rotatable frame is locked by a latch 18, adapted to engage with one or the other of notches or seats 17, provided in the periphery .of the table frame. Thus, as illustrated-in Fig. 1, the cutter frame and the rotary table frame are locked to hold the cutting apparatus at a predetermined angle, the parts being now so arranged thatthe cutting mechanism can be thrust bodily forward into the coal. In Fig. 3. the parts are locked to hold the cutter frame at such angle that the cutters can be drawn bodily backward while they are finishing the last partbf'the cut along the side.

19 is a bracket secured to the non-rotary part of the frame and 20 is a cable-guide sheave adapted to engage with the cable 14 and guide it downward to a sheave 21 carried by the truck frame 1. 22 and 23 indicate cable sheaves which are preferably mounted in inclined positions on the other side of the truck frame and below it.

The operation of the machine is as follows:

It is brought into the room or entry upon the track 3 and to points near the coal face. If it is desired to form a kerf. such as indicated in Fig. 3. the cutter arm 9 is turned to the angle shown in Fig. 2. and the rotary frame is locked inposition by the latch 18. The cable 14 is drawn from the winding drum 11 and. if the parts are in the position shown in Fig. 2, it is passed around one or the rotary table again.

more of the sheaves 15, and thence around the sheave 20, and then down to and around the sheave 21.

The end of the cable is then connected to a track rail, in such way that the latter can serve as an abutment for'effecting the forward advance of the cutting mechanism when it is bodily thrust into the coal. The rail is solidly in position and, under the system of mining followed in using machines of this type, is permanently in place.

The connecting device for causing the cable to draw against the rail may be of any suitable sort. Figs. 1 to 4. It consists of a rod 25 having a hook 26 adapted to engage with a hook or with an eye 27 on-the feed table and also having a hook 28 adapted to engage the end of the rail 3. y

A modified form of connecting device is shown in Figs. 5, 6 and 7. A rod 25 is provided with an expanded hook end which is adapted to rest on the top of the rail and engage with the front end.

In Figs. 8, 9 and 10 another modification is illustrated which consists of a section of a chain or cable E25 provided with a rail engaging part at 28". This illustrates the class of devices which can accomplish the desired purpose by engaging the rail at points remote from the end. The rail engaging part 28 is carried by the end of the .chain, which latter is looped around the rail at a suitable point between sleepers. This can be formed with a hardened edge for biting the rail to prevent the connector from slipping to points where it will drag upon a sleeper or cross-tie.

After the cable is thus connected to the rail the cutting mechanism is put into action, and the winding drum simultaneously takes up the cable. The cutting apparatus and the truck are bodily moved forward and the cutters produce the entering or sumping cut. l/Vhen this part of the kerf has been completed, the. cable will be dis connected from the rail and the cutting mechanism will then he bodily moved in such way as to make the cross cut part of the kerf. If the machine be of the sort illustrated. this is done by connecting the free end of the cable 'to one of the projections 16 on the non-rotary part of the frame. The winding frame and cable then cause the cutter arm to swing transversely or horizontally. If a kerf of the character of that indicated in Fig. 3 is to he formed. the movement of the cutter arm is stopped when it. reaches the angular position shown in that figure. and the latch 18 is engaged with Then the feed cable is-releascd from the abutment 1 and again taken down around the pulleys 20 and 21. but from the latter it is taken to the pulley One of these is shown inv 22 and thence to the pulley '23. v From this it is carried back along the track and is arranged to pull upon some stationary object. In Fig. 3 the cable is shown as hooked to the connecting rod 25 and the rod in turn is hooked to the end part of one ofthe crossties or sleepers of the track. In Fig. 8 the dotted lines illustrate how the cable can be fastened directly to the rail by means of the flexible rail-engaging devices, this avoiding severe strains upon the cross-ties.

\Vhen the rear end of the cable is thus suitably fastened power is again applied to the cutting apparatus and to the winding drum, and the entire mechanism is bodily drawn backward, as indicated in Fig. -3. The chain with the cutters is now not only moving around the periphery of the cutter frame but is also being moved bodily backward on straight lines and the remainder of the kerf is finished during this outward movement.

It is desirable to have the device which connects theicable to the rail readily separable from it, inasmuch as the Slack or fine coal which isloosened by the bits (in making first the enterin cut, and then the cross cut) falls directly town, and forms a relatively large pile over the ends of the rails, as indicated by dotted lines at 24 in Fig. 1. And by having the cable-detachable/from its fastener the necessity of shoveling away the coal from above the fastened end is obviated. The hooks or eyes at 26 and 27 are outside of this loose coal, and the cable can be quickly detached.

If a rod connector-such as at 25 and 25 is used it can he provided with apoint that will permit it to be thrust under the slack coal to engage with the end of the rail if in any case it has been drawn out. and itis found necessary to again secure the draft devices to the abutment under the coal.

The connecting device (whether one such as that at 25 or that at 25") can be readily removed from the coal after the cut is finished, and can be either carried with the machine from room to room. or can be allowed to remain at a point near the face until the next kerf is to be formed.

The weight of the cutting mechanism and of the supporting truck is upon the rail while the draft is being a plied, and tends to hold it rigidly and sti y in position so that neither the rail nor the cross-ties will be displaced.

The winding mechanism for the cable is in horizontal lanes which are considerably above those 0 the rails. But the system of sheaves or guiding devices forthe cable-permits it to be arranged in such way that on the one hand the draft power c'an be applied in horizontal planes approxlmat ng thoseof the winder or can be arranged so ing the cutting mechanism and its support,

although under high resistance.

I herein show, and specifically refer to, a cable as the device which transmits the power for movin the mechanism, but it will be understoodtliat any power transmitter equivalent to a cable can be substituted.

What I claim is:

1. The combination of cutting mechanism, a support which carries it, rails upon which the support travels while the cutting mechanism is in operation, a cable, power devices for the cable carried by the support, and a system of guides 15, 15 in a relatively elevated horizontal plane and guides 20, 21, 23, all carried by said supportand arranged to maintain the operative end of the cable approximately in the horizontal planes of the cutting mechanism or, at option, to maintain said operative endin horizontal planes approximating those of the rail upon which the support is carried.

2. The combination of cutting mechanism,

mating those of the rails and thence,to maintain the operative end of the cable in the last said planes.

3. The combination of a support traveling in a fixed path, cutting mechanism on the support arranged to operate on lines along one sideof said path or, at option, on lines along the other side of the path, a cable, means carried by the said support for applying tension to the cable, and a system of guides for the cable arranged to provide a final fulcrum point for the cable in a line near-and parallel to one side of the saidpath or, at option, in a line near and parallel to the other side of said path.

4. The combination of a support traveling in a fixed path, cutting mechanism 011 the support arranged to operate on lines plane approximating that of the tension ap- In testimony whereof, I affix my signature, plying tlevieesaanother in a horizontal plane in presence of two witnesses. approximating that of the rails and 111 a T T T hne near one side of the said path and the LILS third in a horizontal plane near that of the VV1tnesses:

rails and in a line near the other side of said DUDLEY T. FISHER,

path. H RRY C. DEAN. 

